Gaming addiction: One man's story

TEMECULA  Local eye surgeon Andrew Doan used a personal family picture to show how video games nearly destroyed his life.

In the picture, Doan's toddler-age son is flashing a huge smile, the picture of contentment. Dad, however, has his eyes partially closed and his back is to the camera. He's kissing his son's cheek but it's a half-hearted peck and Doan said that, at the time, he was itching to hand the child to his wife and get back to the computer video game "Ultima Online," one of the early multiplayer online role-playing games.

After hitting rock bottom and almost losing his wife and family in the process, Doan quit playing video games and started to devote much of his time trying to help other people avoid falling into this trap. That effort has taken the form of a book, "Hooked on Games," and a local outreach at his Temecula church, where he works with small groups of young people to help them focus on what he considers to be more positive and worthwhile pursuits.

On Monday, Doan brought his message to Temecula's Civic Center, where he addressed the first gathering of the regional Family, Youth and Health Task Force, a panel composed of two dozen elected officials from area cities and school districts.

The task force was formed to tackle issues that affect area youths, from drug addiction to bullying to "sexting." And Doan told the members that gaming addiction is right up there in terms of seriousness: a scourge that turns productive young people into poor students with defiance issues.

"Bad company will corrupt good character," he said.

After detailing all of what he considers to be the dangers of heavy video game use, especially by young people, Doan showed Facebook messages he recently received from critics who blast him for being the equivalent of a digital killjoy.

They told him, in sometimes salty language, that they were going to keep playing and that there wasn't anything he or anyone else could do about it.

Doan used their comments as proof of the deleterious effects of gaming.

But Doan also mentioned pushback to his theories and central thesis from his colleagues in the medical world who don't consider gaming to be an addiction and don't link it to increased violence or other anti-social behavior.

Doan told the task force that he is working to convince that audience with a growing body of studies and with his own research, which includes the anecdotal evidence from folks who have contacted him to share their harrowing stories.

After his presentation, there was a discussion that allowed members of the task force and people in the audience to ask questions.

Murrieta Mayor Rick Gibbs asked Doan for advice on how to resist the peer pressure and say no to a child.

"It if doesn't enhance the child's life, say no," Doan said. He expounded later on that point when answering another question by saying that abstinence is the best route for a child who shows signs of addiction.

As he acknowledged during the presentation, that will sometimes lead to friction between a parent and a child, but in the long run, he said, it's the parents' responsibility to help their children avoid that sort of stimuli for the betterment of society.

Using his experience with his son as an example, Doan said he noticed that his grades were slipping and he was waking up at the crack of dawn to play "Call of Duty," a popular series of first-person shooting games.

Doan said he had his son sell his games on eBay and let him pocket half of the proceeds with the other half going to a gaming addiction nonprofit. After the withdrawal period, his son's grades started to improve and he became more active in sports.

Lake Elsinore Councilman Steve Manos suggested using the format of Red Ribbon Week to get the word out to young people in schools and Temecula Mayor Mike Naggar suggested a regional, "Take the Day Off' campaign, that would focus attention on the issue.

Some of the school board members stressed support for extra-curricular programs that help keep children engaged in productive activities such as the arts, choir and more.

Julio Rodriguez, a 27-year-old councilman from Perris, said the task force should consider bringing in some student leaders to help disseminate the information to their peers.